While the eyes of the world are on the crises in Japan and Libya, the Israeli government yesterday approved the construction of 400 more illegal housing units in the occupied West Bank.

A Foreign Office spokesperson today said: “We are extremely concerned by the Government of Israel’s approval of 400 new housing units in settlements in the West Bank.

We have consistently made clear, including at the UN with France and Germany, that settlements are illegal, an obstacle to peace and a threat to a two-state solution.

Further steps to advance settlement construction are counterproductive and undermine peace at a time when all possible efforts have to be made to return to the negotiating table”.

A statement from the US Embassy said: "We're deeply concerned by continuing Israeli actions on settlements in the West Bank. As we said before, we view these settlements as illegitimate and as running counter to efforts to resume direct negotiations."